— a cartographer's first sketch · Round II setting —
Below: a small example map, drawn as if pulled from the satchel of a returning scavenger.
Two stories of a fallen lordship, rough-walled and mould-eaten. Six rooms, two corridors,
one extraction shrine. The lone wandering thing patrols the upper hall.
Legend
✶
Extraction Shrine — place tribute here.
▣
Loot Chest — coin items, sized by tier.
●
Material Node — ore, coal, cloth, rope.
◆
Sigil-Stone — rare; for Illuminating Stone.
M
Monster patrol — dashed line is the route.
○
Late spawn — appears at Threat III or higher.
→
Suggested route — a clean run by the green dashes.
▦
Stair — between ground and upper floor.
Level-design Principles (so all maps feel the same)
One shrine, never two
Each level has a single Extraction Shrine. Distance to it is the cost of greed.
Loot rises with depth
The best chest sits in the farthest, most patrolled room. Players who reach it earn it.
Two routes minimum
Never a single hallway. There must always be a longer-but-safer path so stealth has a use.
Lighting is loot
A windowed room, a guttering torch — these matter. Dark rooms ask for the Illuminating Stone.
Sound diegesis
Hammering ore alerts patrols within N tiles. Cellars echo. Carpeted rooms muffle.
Verticality from Round IV
Rope, ladder, double-jump-only chambers begin appearing in the watchtower. Reward mobility purchases.